Holiness: A Guide for Beginners
by Dom Hubert van Zeller
This is a short little book, perfect for my Level 4 (eighth grade) daughter's Advent reading this year. The ten chapters are short but rich. It is deceiving in its simplicity. I will assign it to my Level 4 daughter this year, but I think I will also assign it to my Level 6 Year 2 (twelfth grade) son next year. I'll leave it on the list for my daughter when she's a senior in high school because I think it's the kind of book that improves with repeated readings. I look forward to reading it again myself.
van Zeller begins with a description of what holiness is, and what it isn't, but it's not an easy definition. Though we can recognize holiness in others (Jesus and the saints, for example), our own path to holiness may look different, because we are called to be holy in our own unique way.
[W]hat is is that the saints do that makes them into saints? The answer is that they do two things: on the one side they keep clear of anything that they think is going to get in the way of grace, and on the other they head directly for our Lord. The only thing to be added to this is that they do it for the glory of God and not for what they can get out of it.
Holiness is not something only for the saints, the martyrs, those in high places or religious orders. Holiness is the standard for every single person and is therefore attainable in every interaction and choice we make. This is, of course, a lesson we know but which can never be repeated too often. van Zeller compares our goal of holiness with that of Jesus as a boy. His obedience to his parents gave glory to God just as much as the miracles.
And just as the little works He did were not little in the eyes of the Father because they were being done perfectly by the Son, so the little ones we do are not little to the Father because we are trying to do them perfectly with the Son.
As I said above, I'm assigning this to my eighth grader this year and adding it to the list for my twelfth grader next year. It would be perfect for anyone to read slowly during an adoration hour or as preparation for Mass.
This book was previously published under the title Sanctity in Other Words.
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